Tighter checking rules win broad public support

Thursday

Jul 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 28, 2011 at 12:15 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — Even those in the United States who complain about excessive government regulation say they’re in favor of rules that would require banks to clearly disclose the fees they attach to checking accounts, a new survey shows.

A survey from The Pew Charitable Trusts released today found that nearly three-quarters of Americans with checking accounts back rules that would make banks do a better at disclosing account terms.

The study found a favorable view of stricter rules among 81 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of independents and 62 percent of Tea Party supporters.

Notably, even those who say they believe there is already too much or the right amount of government regulation supported requiring banks to do a better job about revealing fees and charges.

Some banks do post certain details about their checking-account policies on their websites, but the information they provide is inconsistent and hard to compare, said Susan Weinstock, director of Pew’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project, part of the organization’s consumer-protection arm.

“No bank has an easy disclosure, so that you can easily go online and get an overview of what they’re offering,” Weinstock said. “When you shop for groceries, there are food labels. You can check the sodium content on one can peas versus another can of peas. You can’t do something similar with something as ubiquitous as a checking account.”

Pew designed a model disclosure form that would list monthly fees, ATM fees, returned check fees, overdraft options and other policies. The organization is calling on the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to press banks into using the one-page form. “The CFPB has the authority to do this now,” Weinstock said. “This is something Americans can agree on. They want these reforms.”